Access

Kaitoke Regional Park has a network of tracks to suit all abilities. It is well furnished with toilets, picnic areas and a campground. The main entrance is off SH2 at Waterworks Road, 12 km north of Upper Hutt. Pakuratahi Forks is a further 2 km, from where most tracks start.

The start of the track is signposted at the Pakuratahi Forks (Rivendell) parking area.

Track

The even metalled track crosses the swingbridge over the Hutt River at Pakuratahi Forks and heads right.

For 20 minutes it passes through the podocarp/broadleaf forest with huge rimu and rata piercing the canopy.

Cross the flume bridge over the Hutt River and pass the Strainer House, returning along the sealed road.

The 10-minute Terrace Walk signposted on the right is a more interesting return detour, passing through dense forest on a former river terrace. It exits just before the junction with the Ridge Track and Pakuratahi River Walk. The Terrace Walk is suitable for wheelchairs.

Back on the sealed road, shortly after exiting the forest, a signpost on the right leads to Rivendell, the Elven settlement in Part 1 of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Pass the huge boulder with the plaque inscribed “Where men and mountains meet, great things happen” and cross the road back to the carpark.

Geology

The Wellington Fault has shattered a belt of rock up to 200 metres either side of the weakness and this has aided its breakdown through erosion and weathering. The intense fluvial erosion of the Hutt River has balanced the tectonic uplift, forming the sheer walled gorge and a series of river terraces.

Polynesian History

In pre-European times Ngati Tara, a tribe descended from Whatonga, arrived in the Hutt Valley and cultivated small patches on the banks of the Hutt River. Later, Ngati Rangi and Ngati Ira settled the area. In 1819, a war party led by Te Raparaha overcame Ngati Ira in a battle at Pa Whakataka.

Kaitoke roughly translates as kai (food) and toke (worms). Apparently Maori journeying to the Wairarapa would camp in the area before crossing the Rimutakas. All they could find to eat were worms.

European History

Possibilities of using the Kaitoke catchment for Hutt City and Wellington’s water supply were first mooted in 1906, but it was not until 1957 that the necessary intake weir, treatment station, tunnels, pipelines, reservoirs and pumping station were completed.

The Te Marua Water Treatment Plant takes water from the Kaitoke Weir and gravity feeds it through a short tunnel, over the flume bridge to the strainer house. An aqueduct tunnel then transports the water under Kaitoke Main Ridge to the Stuart Macaskill storage lakes at Te Marua, which hold 3,000,000,000 litres

Feature

The set of Rivendell took 3 months to build and converted the grassed areas to walkways with arches and columns. The back drop was digitally enhanced in the post-production stages to show waterfalls and a more surreal light. Around 360 crew were on site filming the Rivendell scenes.